”The British Empire at the end of the 19th century still covered one-quarter of the world’s land surface, with 380 million subjects scattered on every continent. Inevitably, Churchill’s combat tours exposed his powerful and impressionable mind to most of the forces that were to shape the future: war itself, Great Power politics, religious fanaticism, and nationalism. And while he was devoted to the empire and convinced of its power for good in the world, we can see a generous mind at work, adamantly resisting any departure from its benign principles, but increasingly conscious of man’s capacity for evil.”